COVID-19 has forced many businesses to adopt the work-from-home strategy. While working from home has been a shock to most individuals who are used to working in an office environment. What many business owners and employees have seen is the benefits of working remotely.
So, should you bring your team back to the office once lockdown restrictions are lifted? Or would you benefit more from allowing your team to work remotely?
In this article, we’re going to go through the benefits of enabling your staff to permanently work from home. Both the benefits for your business and your team.
#1 Increases Productivity
Increased productivity by working from home may seem counter-intuitive, as you’d think employees would become more distracted? But research has shown that working from home actually increases productivity significantly.
Employees at Chinese travel firm, Ctrip, were allowed to work from home over a nine-month period. 50% of employees remained in the office, and the other 50% worked from home. The results showed that the staff working from home completed nearly 14% more calls per day compared to the office-based employees.
Other studies found that Canadian employees who work from home rated their productivity as 7.7/10 compared to office employees who rate their productivity at 6.5/10.
The statistics show that allowing your team to work remotely will increase productivity — meaning you’ll technically get more around an extra day’s worth of work for free, on average.
#2 Lowers Business Costs
This is a huge point for most businesses, as saving on non-essential spending is crucial. But how much can your businesses save by implementing a work-from-home protocol? Over the long-term, companies can actually save thousands of dollars per employee every year, thanks to the reduced office space and equipment costs.
The previously mentioned study by a travel firm, Ctrip, found that during the nine-month experiment period, the company saved $1,900 per employee!
Whether you own an SME or a large corporation, you can implement a work-from-home strategy to save hundreds of thousands of dollars annually potentially.
#3 Encourages Autonomy
While working independently, employees are in the perfect position to become more autonomous — which has a considerable number of benefits for both your business and their work life.
Autonomy helps you and your employees build trust with each other. While they’re working from home, you’ll see if they’re able to complete the same work to the high standard you require. If they do, you’ll be able to keep giving them the freedom to work from home — which will lead them to respect the professional relationship between you and them.
Autonomy can also lead your team to become happier and have more job satisfaction, resulting in higher employee retention rates.
Will Your Office Ever Look The Same?
As you’ve seen, working from home can have significant benefits for both your employees and your business. Going forward, will you be keeping the work-from-home policy? Or will you revert back to keeping your employees working within your office?
Let us know how you see the future of your office in the comments section below. For more information on how to transform your life as an entrepreneur, read some of the latest Intentionally Inspirational blogs.
Written by Lewis James